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Reading By Himself

Mar 21st, 2012 by

I’ve waited a couple weeks to post this development because it is kindof unbelievable, but Tommy is reading by himself.  In the past month, he’s gone from reading short vowel sound words to real books.  We had only reached consonant blends in phonics, but his cool new birthday books motivated him to finish up on his own, I guess.  I’d noticed he was “reading” to his sisters a lot more, but I thought he was just reciting books that he had memorized.  But then, impatient with Daddy for not finishing My Father’s Dragon fast enough, he started reading that aloud to himself.  I wondered if he was just guessing, so I got some new “I Can Read” type books out of the library a couple weeks ago, and he just sat down and read them to me, sounding out unfamiliar words.  As I type, he’s reading Hansel and Gretel aloud to himself.

We’ve tried to create an atmosphere that encourages reading by surrounding the kids with quality books, limiting TV, reading aloud until hoarse, and letting Tommy start phonics when he expressed interest instead of holding him back until kindergarten.  But of course, none of those things can guarantee that a child will want to learn how to read; in Tommy’s case, I think something just clicked for him this month.  It’s fun to have another real reader in the house!

Posted in Homeschooling, Tommy | 3 Comments »

Susanna at 11 Months

Mar 19th, 2012 by

This past month was a huge one for Susanna–she stopped nursing last Monday, her top two teeth came through the same day, she’s walking from room to room now (though still crawling some of the time), she’s very chatty (Mama, Dada, Baba, Hi, Ah!), and I even feel like her hair is growing (and curling!) a lot right now. Now that she’s totally on the bottle, I can keep track of how much she drinks–around 16-18 ounces a day. With the teeth through, she’s back to her happy, normal self. She loves eating all table food now–in just this past week, she devoured pizza, eggplant cashew curry, hummus, red bell peppers (which she can’t chew but loves to gum for ages before spitting out), and of course cheese sticks, strawberries, bananas, and oatmeal. I am getting lax in my old age, because I’ve totally let her have refined sugar before a year (unlike the older two, who never tasted it before their first birthday parties). She is a big fan of cupcakes and scones!

I just couldn’t bear to strip her down to a onesie for this month’s photo shoot.  It is stinking cold here, and our heater is broken, so we’re enjoying 56 degree temperatures (and dropping) in the house this morning.  So here’s the California baby in March:

Talking and pointing.  Another favorite activity.

 

Posted in Susanna | 3 Comments »

Predestined to Love Tea?

Mar 16th, 2012 by

Susanna thinks that bottles are overrated. If only we could always drink from tea cups, the world would be a better place. I’ve tried to explain to her that tea is not adequate replacement for breastmilk. (She’s totally weaned as of this week.) And I’m not ready to let her drink formula from a tea cup until she’s a little steadier on her feet.

Posted in Susanna | 3 Comments »

4-Toothed Sue

Mar 15th, 2012 by

Well, I’m online today. We’re all fighting off a flu or cold or something, and I spent naptime in bed, so it’s just an off Thursday.  But my pain is your gain–I’m posting on an off day.  I took some pictures of Susannie at dinnertime, and her new top teeth show up pretty well! (For the record, Elizabeth started calling her Susannie last week, and it’s quickly overtaking Q as the favored nickname.)

Posted in Susanna | 2 Comments »

First Flat Tire

Mar 14th, 2012 by

I actually don’t know how long Tommy’s tires have been flat–this is just the first time that he has brought it to my attention and asked to do something about it.

Posted in Elizabeth, Tommy | Comments Off

The Zoo, With Daddy

Mar 12th, 2012 by

For weeks, the kids have been looking forward to Daddy’s Spring Break! Today we showed him the Santa Barbara Zoo!

Posted in California, Elizabeth, Tommy | 1 Comment »

Sitting Up at the Table

Mar 9th, 2012 by

Susanna takes the record for shortest stint in the high chair. We pulled it out at 6 months and put it away before 11 months.  She just has gotten so good at wriggling out of the straps that every time I stepped away, she’d be up on the tray, about to nose dive off.  I know a lot of friends prefer putting the baby in the booster right up to the table, but I am all about our high chair.  The tray is easy to pop off and clean in the dishwasher, it kept my chubbier babies restrained in one place while I cooked dinner, and there’s handy under-seat storage for bibs.  At all our other houses, we were able to stick the highchair at the end of the table so that the baby was eating right there with the family, but here, a six inch drop between the tiny dining area and the carpeted living area meant that the high chair just got pushed here and there in the kitchen, with no convenient place by the table.  So we decided to make the move to the booster seat, which we can push up to the table.  The straps are different (maybe made for skinny kids), so she can’t wriggle out, and she loves sitting right at the table with us.  Of course this happened right after I redid my kitchen chairs.  Sigh.

Anyway, here she is…

Posted in Susanna | 3 Comments »

Just a Quiet Wednesday

Mar 7th, 2012 by

In the midst of a busy week (4 play dates, 3 mom’s group/Bible studies, 2 evening meetings), it’s nice to have a quiet day in which we don’t venture past the front yard.  We make our own fun.

and here’s the best shot I’ve gotten of Susanna’s top teeth, both of which have almost cut through…not exactly flattering (the angle actually makes her look chubby!), but a good glimpse of the gummy smile we love!

Posted in Elizabeth, Susanna | 2 Comments »

Coloring

Mar 5th, 2012 by

We’re back to normal, at last…reading, jumping on the couch cushions, and coloring…

Posted in Tommy | Comments Off

Cutting Back

Mar 4th, 2012 by

My life is too busy right now. The kids and I are over-committed to scheduled events because I didn’t expect them all to pan out as they have, I’m planning an unusually high number of play dates because we’re trying to get to know a lot of new people better, and my real priorities (devotions, homeschooling, homemaking) are not getting the attention they deserve. A few weeks ago, our small group fasted and prayed for a day for a couple in our church. I’m not able to fast from food while nursing, but I did an internet fast. It was very enlightening. After a lot of prayer about what to cut back, I’m feeling led to cut back on my online time. The internet was a great crutch all fall when I was lonely and miserable for my friends back east, but I don’t need it as much now. So all of this is to say that I’m going to try to take Tuesdays and Thursdays off from the internet and revisit my commitment to stay away from technology as much as possible on Sundays (ironic, I know, that I’m blogging on a Sunday night).

What this means for the blog is that for awhile, I’m going to cut back to posting three days a week–M/W/F. For the sake of our out-of-town family, I’ve tried really hard to post pictures of our life 5-6 times a week since Tommy was a toddler.   I’ve planned ahead and, since moving out here, have scheduled posts so that they’d be up as soon as our parents got up in the morning.  But I think God wants me to put the same commitment that I had to blogging daily into studying my Bible daily. Clearly, I have the organization and self control to find a few minutes away from the kids in the day, but I have prioritized less significant things than my walk with God.

We’ll see how it goes, and of course, if something unusual or exciting happens on an off day, I’ll post it right away.  Derek might be posting a bit more.  And because I hate using my phone and the yellow pages, we’ll see if I’m really able to survive three days a week with out google.

But for now, I’m cutting back.

Posted in Musings | 1 Comment »

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